Primary SENCo Forum

Who is this course for?

A cluster group for new to role and recently qualified SENCos from St Albans Primary Schools. The group will provide opportunities to share good practice and offer support. The topics for discussion will be directed by the group themselves on a meeting by meeting basis but will be led and facilitated by Elaine Bridle.
This course will be hosted initially at Fleetville Junior School in St Albans, but participating schools may offer to host a cluster meeting. The cluster will meet on a Thursday from 4.00pm to 5.30pm each half term.

What are the objectives or outcomes?

On this programme participants will:

Share good practice

Offer advice and support

Raise standards in SEN provision

Meet the facilitators:

Elaine Bridle is currently Associate Head and Senco at Fleetville Junior School. An SLE for SEND, Elaine has an MA in Education and Leadership of SEN and supports new SENCos completing the National Award through her role as a Tutor with the Eastern Partnership and Herts for Learning. Elaine is also the co-Manager and Primary SEND lead for DSPL7 and the School Improvement Lead for SEND with the Spiral Partnership Trust.

Elaine is passionate about supporting the needs of pupils with SEND and is keen to share outstanding practice wherever possible. A forum will be hugely beneficial for new to role and recently qualified SENCos, providing a support network through which they can continue to develop knowledge and skills.

Practical Information

This course is hosted initially at Fleetville Junior School in St Albans.

Alan has worked in five different schools in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, holding senior leadership positions in three of them. He has been the Headteacher of Roundwood Park School for six years and is thoroughly enjoy the role.

Alan is looking forward to passing on the advice which he would have been happy to receive when he was beginning to look at headship roles six years ago.

Alex is an Assistant Head at Roundwood Park School. Alex leads Teaching and Learning and developing learning habits within the school. A former Head of Music, Alex became a Professional Coach in 2011. She leads the coaching team and the practice of coaching through the school. She has seen the benefits of establishing and developing a coaching culture to improve staff CPD in each of the schools.

Allyson is KS3 Coordinator of English and an SLE at Sandringham School, focusing on KS3 curriculum and assessment, coaching and utilising TAs effectively.

An Assistant Principal at the ULT Totteridge Academy, Amy leads on teaching and learning and is also responsible for professional learning in the school. She was appointed an SLE for the Alban TSA in 2013 and has worked to support the delivery of modern foreign languages across both key stages 3&4. Amy has been a professional learning mentor for both new and experienced staff and has much experience of professional coaching.

Anna is a Science teacher at Sandringham School. She has 13 years teaching experience during which she has been a curriculum (Head of Science) and pastoral (Head of Year 7) leader. She currently has responsibility for A level Biology. She has completed an NLP facilitation course, and has delivered CPD sessions at Sandringham.

Ben has been Head of Faculty for MFL at Sir John Lawes School since 2010 and is an Alban TSA SLE. He has a masters degree in leading teaching and learning, having focused on methods to increase the impact and efficiency of marking in schools. He is also experienced in establishing systems for leading faculties efficiently, curriculum design, and supporting teachers new to MFL teaching.

Caroline Creaby is a Deputy Headteacher at Sandringham School in St Albans.

Caroline has worked in schools for twelve years teaching economics and business and has held roles including AST, Head of Department and Assistant Headteacher. As a school leader, Caroline has led on several strategic areas including CPD, appraisal, teaching and learning and Sixth Form. Caroline recently completed her doctorate in education and leads on Sandringham’s research work.

From September 2017, Caroline will be Director of the Sandringham Research School.

Cate has been teaching at Mandeville Primary School since 2009 where she has enjoyed teaching every year group from Early Years to Y5. Currently Assistant Headteacher with responsibility for leading English and communication across the school, she now teaches in Y2 and leads the KS1 team. Cate is also an SLE for the Alban Teaching School Alliance.

Cate is keen to share outstanding practice as much as possible and has always found networking with colleagues extremely useful. She believes that creating a forum like this will be hugely beneficial, allowing teachers to set their own agenda and therefore meet the specific needs based on the reality of the classroom.

Is currently a RS teacher at Sandringham School. Gemma has worked in several schools as a Head of Department, and is passionate about finding new and creative ways to deliver RS to a range of students. Gemma shares her passions on Twitter and through her blog where she connects with other teachers and inspires them to think about their lessons in a new way.

Gemma has experience of being an examiner at A level and has successfully trained NQTs from a range of backgrounds. The training that she has provided for NQTs and GTPs is frequently commented as having a real impact on their practice. Gemma particularly specialises in delivering sessions on creativity in the classroom.

Joe is an experienced teacher of Design Technology and Head of Year at Sir John Lawes School. He is an accredited National College outstanding facilitator, and leads sessions for the new staff induction process each year. Joe is an Alban Leader of Education and has a particular interest in 'making marking meaningful'.

Teriy is Deputy Head at St Albans Girls’ School where she has responsibility for the curriculum and learning and teaching.

Karen is Deputy Head at St Albans Girls’ School where she has responsibility for Student Welfare and Progress.

Laura is a Head of MFL at Roundwood Park School. She has been a Professional Coach at the school since 2011 and has shaped the development of a coaching culture at Roundwood Park. She is committed to her MFL outreach work in her role as an SLE, having established a successful primary support group in the local area. She believes that coaching skills are key to developing staff at all levels.

Karen is currently Assistant Headteacher at Sandringham School responsible for professional learning. She is an accredited National College outstanding facilitator and leads CPD for the Alban Teaching School Alliance. As an SLE she has a particular interest in professional learning and supporting middle leadership across all subjects.

Claire is currently Assistant Headteacher at Sandringham School responsible for the strategic leadership of the Alban Teaching School Alliance. Claire is passionate about staff development opportunities and the power of networking. She believes in a practical and reflective approach to teacher learning. An accredited National College outstanding facilitator Claire is also an experienced leader who has taught English in a secondary context.

Maria is Assistant Head Teacher at Sir John Lawes School and SLE co-ordinator for the Alban Teaching School Alliance. Maria’s fundamental belief is that if schools invest wisely in their staff they are investing in the future of all their students. Providing opportunities to develop as professionals through networking and collaborative learning are powerful tools Maria values highly. She is a member of the HertsCam tutor team and a National College accredited Outstanding Facilitator.

Helen is a geography teacher and Leading Practitioner at Sir John Lawes School in Harpenden. She has lead on a wide range of global learning and sustainability initiatives at a whole school level and beyond. Recently she was the Lead Practitioner for SJL in their role as an Expert Centre for the Global Learning Programme. She has delivered a wide range of CPD from small workshops through to national conferences.

Kate is Director of Sixth Form at Sandringham School and previously worked in the School of Education at The University of Hertfordshire, coordinating CPD programmes for teachers.

Originally a secondary Physics teacher, James is now a PGCE Physics tutor at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, where he also teaches on the primary PGCE course and MEd courses. As well as running CPD courses for teachers he also leads the country-wide teacher fellow and educational research programs for the Ogden Trust.

Val divides her time between work as a Leading Practitioner at Roundwood Park School and as the Further Maths Support Programme Area Coordinator for Herts, Harlow and Luton. She has extensive experience in delivering and evaluating teaching and learning. Through her work with the Further Maths Support Programme she is completely up-to-date with new aspects of GCSE and A level as well as the background topics that provide a foundation at KS2 and KS3. She has NCETM Level 3 Professional Development Lead Accreditation. Her particular interests centre around the support for students and teachers as they engage in problem solving activities and new curricula at KS4 and KS5.

Kyle is a Specialist Leader of Education with the Alban Teach School Alliance, currently leading a successful and expanding mathematics department at Samuel Ryder Academy. He has led whole school numeracy for a number of years, whilst concurrently managing pastoral development as a Head of Year. Kyle has experienced the positive impact of communication through his work across a range of schools throughout his career and has a passion for collaborative working.

Rich is currently a Year 8 form tutor at Sandringham but has over 10 years’ experience in a range of Pastoral roles in the school. He has been a Head of Year for 5 years and an Assistant Headteacher in charge of behaviour, pastoral care and safeguarding for 2 years. Following a change of role, he is back on the front line as a form tutor and reaffirmed in his belief that it is one of the most important, and yet sometimes over looked, roles in a school.

Currently, Rich is working as KS4 Maths Coordinator and as such understands first-hand the balance and possible tensions between pastoral and academic aims but is a firm believer that when young people feel safe and happy, they are most likely to achieve their best.

Sarah is currently Performance Director for year 7, this will be her sixth year in the role but her first with the younger students. She has previously taken two year groups through their GCSE years and therefore has great experience in balancing academic success with the individual pastoral needs of each student. She fully believes that the tutor role is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle when it comes to excellent student welfare.

Sarah’s vision for pastoral care is the same as it was when she started the role and that is to develop an ethos where students are happy, academically successful, confident and well-rounded individuals.

David Bullock is Deputy Headteacher at Verulam School. He is currently responsible for pastoral welfare and staff development. David has led a number of sessions through the Alban TSA to established middle leaders as well as contributing to the NQT and schools direct trainee programme. He has recently completed a MEd through HertsCam at Cambridge University in Leading Teaching and Learning which focussed on developing an effective Sixth Form learning culture. David is a leader who believes that unlocking the potential of teachers is the key to school improvement.

Sam is currently Director of Learning of a large Science faculty at Sandringham School. He was KS4 Coordinator at a school in west London as well as Assistant Head of Year. Sam moved back to Hertfordshire in 2015 where he became ADoL at Sandringham with responsibility for KS4, before progressing to Head of Department. Sam has been teaching for eight years and has worked at three different schools in his career. He has also been a member of many working parties and whole school projects in that time.

Joanna is Head of Philosophy, Religion and Ethics at Sandringham School, an SLE for the Alban TSA and has taken the lead on a number of professional learning and INSET events during the last year. Jo’s experience as an examiner for the past 3 years has also enabled her to confidently support non-specialists in delivering RS as well as giving her a deeper insight into the process of this assessment.

Karen teaches at Sandringham School and has a wealth of experience teaching and learning strategies. She is an experienced teacher of both Sociology and Geography and has been a pastoral leader for 8 years.

Cathy has been a Primary teacher for 20 years, working in central London, Buckinghamshire and St Albans. She became Head Teacher at Mandeville Primary School in 2013 and has recently been designated NLE. She works closely with the Alban TSA, facilitating the local Primary NQT cluster group and providing a primary perspective for ATSA's CPD planning. This year she has been involved in a cross phase project looking at the mental health and wellbeing of children in St Albans from Y5 to Y10 which has included discussions with young people about the transition from Primary to Secondary amongst other things. In September she was asked to deliver at an INSET day at Marlborough Science Academy on describing what good practice in Primary Schools looked like and what Secondary colleagues need to know in order to build on that practice.

Laura is a Science teacher at Sandringham school and is currently a member of the Professional Learning Team and a Head of House. She has a wide range of experience of teaching and learning strategies and has been responsible for running successful CPD sessions for Sandringham's twilight and conference events.

Alan Gray is a Headteacher at Sandringham School in St Albans.

Alan has worked as a Headteacher for 18 years and is a teacher of Chemistry. Most recently he has led Sandringham School for 13 years. The school has seen rapid and sustained progress while Alan has been Headteacher. Alan has supported a number of local schools in his role as NLE. He represents school leaders on the DfE Secondary Headteacher reference group, has been chair of Hertfordshire Schools Forum for over 14 years and is proud to lead one of the first schools nationally to gain the coveted ‘World Class Schools’ mark. He won the TES Headteacher of the Year Award in 2017.

Claire began teaching in Cheshunt in 1994, then worked at various Hertfordshire schools before becoming Deputy Head at Sir John Lawes School in Harpenden in 2003. During this time she completed the NPQH and a Masters in Teaching and Learning.

In 2006 Claire became Headteacher of SJL and the school achieved an Outstanding OFSTED judgement in 2008. Claire was appointed NLE in 2009 and led work as Education Partners of the Meller Trust sponsoring The Bushey Academy.

In 2011 SJL became sole sponsors of the Samuel Ryder Academy creating the Sir John Lawes Academies Trust which now consists of SJL, Samuel Ryder Academy, Robert Barclay Academy and the Harpenden Primary Academy.

Claire is a director of the Harpenden Secondary Education Trust, which is in the process of setting up a Wave 8 secondary Free School in Harpenden (opening Sept 2018). A member of the NCTL Fellowship Commission in 2013-14 Claire visited Singapore and Shanghai on educational research programmes.

With Sandringham School, SJL is joint lead school of the Alban Teaching School Alliance and Claire has been a member of the Regional Schools’ Commissioner’s Headteacher Board for the last two years.

During her career, Tessa has held a number of roles: Head of History, Head of House, Head of Faculty and Professional Learning Mentor. She was awarded AST status in 2008 and has since used her skills and knowledge to support NQTs in Hertfordshire as well as colleagues in her own school to develop their teaching and learning strategies.

As an SLE in World War I Education she has worked with the government funded Centenary World War I Battlefields Programme developing resources for visits to the historic sites.

Tessa’s passion is making teaching interesting for the teacher and thus learning exciting for the students and she is an advocate of using student-led learning to promote progress for all.

Margaret began her teaching career in 1988 in north London, becoming Head of Geography and leading assessment in two schools, introducing a range of measures to track student performance and raise standards, prior to appointment as deputy head of The Priory School in Hitchin. Having introduced the raising boys' achievement programme and successfully written Specialisms bids in 2003, the school profile and outcomes gained considerable strength, culminating in an Ofsted Good Rating. During this time Margaret began her school improvement work within the Local Authority which she continues today.

Margaret has been Headteacher at St Albans Girls' School since 2010 and following an Outstanding judgement in January 2013, has led the team to further raise standards and challenge underperformance. Appointed as a National Leader in Education and national Pupil Premium Assessor, Margaret and her team have supported a number of schools to raise standards. SEND provision is devolved within Hertfordshire and Margaret leads the Higher Needs allocation for the St Albans and Harpenden areas for all young people aged 0-25. In addition, she is governor at a Local PRU Academy as well as being a Board member of the local Teaching School's Alliance.

Elaine is currently Associate Head and Senco at Fleetville Junior School. An SLE for SEND, Elaine has an MA in Education and Leadership of SEN and supports new SENCos completing the National Award through her role as a Tutor with the Eastern Partnership and Herts for Learning. Elaine is also the co-Manager and Primary SEND lead for DSPL7 and the School Improvement Lead for SEND with the Spiral Partnership Trust.

Elaine is passionate about supporting the needs of pupils with SEND and is keen to share outstanding practice wherever possible. A forum will be hugely beneficial for new to role and recently qualified SENCos, providing a support network through which they can continue to develop knowledge and skills.